When lights finally come up, Mustangs make up for lost time

NEW ALBANY – It took a while to get started, but once it was under way, Mantachie was ready to go.
After an hour and 20 minute delay due to problems with stadium lighting, the Mustangs raced to a big first-half lead and coasted to a 41-6 win against East Union on Friday at New Albany.
Mac Grimes lead all rushers with 117 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns to help Mantachie (2-2) to a 34-0 halftime lead.
Grimes (5-foot-10, 180 pounds) said the delay before kickoff wasn’t a problem.
“That didn’t affect us at all,” said the junior fullback, whose 20-yard run on Mantachie’s second play from scrimmage opened scoring with 9:20 in the first quarter. “We stayed focused and came out and played hard.”
East Union (2-1) was unable to slow down the onslaught in the first two quarters, giving up a 35-yard scoring run to Micah Sparks with 11:37 in the second and a 44-yard sprint to Hunter Holland with 3:48 left in the half.
“Offensively, we decided to come off the ball and block, and our backs are doing a good job,” said Mantachie coach Lynn Moore. “Who knew we were going to have to wait like that, but we came out ready to play.”
Sparks scored on a 27-yard strike from Dustin Carrell in the final minute of the first half and Carrell added a 1-yard run midway through the third to put it out of reach.
Broderick Montgomery got East Union on the board with a 1-yard run with 2:04 left in the match.
“I don’t know if the wait had anything to do with it tonight,” said East Union coach Scott Duley, whose squad was playing its home-opener after two big wins on the road. “We got beat by a better football team tonight. I got outcoached and we got outplayed. We are better than we played tonight.”
Montgomery, a 5-8, 165 senior, led the Urchins with 16 carries for 63 yards and the TD.